Editing Rum and Coke (section)

==Popularity and reception==
[[File:Cuba_Libre_00.jpg|thumb|right|A Cuba libre with Coca-Cola and lime]]
The rum and Coke is very popular; Bacardi says that it is the world's second-most-popular alcoholic drink.<ref name=Wilson>{{cite news |last= Wilson |first= Jason |date= 26 April 2011|title= Spirits: Long live the Cuba Libre |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/spirits-long-live-the-cuba-libre/2011/04/12/AFwGu9qE_story.html|url-access=subscription|newspaper= [[The Washington Post]]|access-date= 27 July 2018}}</ref> Its popularity derives from the ubiquity and low cost of the main ingredients, and the fact that it is very easy to make. As it can be made with any quantity or style of rum, it is simple to prepare and difficult to ruin.{{sfn|Curtis|2009|pp=200–201}}

Drink critics often have a low opinion of the cocktail. Writer Wayne Curtis called it "a drink of inspired blandness",{{sfn|Curtis|2009|p=200}} while Jason Wilson of ''[[The Washington Post]]'' called it "a lazy person's drink".<ref name=Wilson/> Troy Patterson of ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'' called it "the classic mediocre Caribbean-American [[highball]]", which "became a classic despite not being especially good".<ref name=Patterson/>

[[Charles A. Coulombe]] considers the Cuba libre a historically important drink, writing that it is "a potent symbol of a changing world order – the marriage of rum, lubricant of the old colonial empires, and Coca-Cola, icon of modern American global capitalism". Additionally, both rum and Coca-Cola are made from Caribbean ingredients and became global commodities through European and American commerce. According to Coulombe, the drink "seems to reflect perfectly the historical elements of the modern world".{{sfn|Coulombe|2005|pp=98–99}}